2023 National Board of Review Winners List: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Leads Top Honors

The National Board of Review has unveiled its 2023 winners list, with Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” leading the top awards.

Actress Lily Gladstone and director Scorsese were both recognized for their respective work on the period piece, which co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. “Killers of the Flower Moon” received Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress wins.

In addition to the core sweep of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Paul Giamatti won Best Actor for “The Holdovers,” along with co-star Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was recognized for Best Supporting Actress. “Poor Things” star Mark Ruffalo won Best Supporting Actor, and “Maestro” writer/director/producer/actor Bradley Cooper was announced to win the NBR Icon Award.

“‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is a stunning masterpiece from one of our greatest filmmakers, Martin Scorsese. The NBR is proud to award this complex, important, and deeply resonant epic as our Best Film and Scorsese as our Best Director,” NBR President Annie Schulhof said in an official statement.

Schulhof continued, “We are also thrilled to honor Bradley Cooper with the NBR Icon Award — an equally impressive actor, writer, producer, and director, who brings his passion, artistry, and dedication to everything he does, including his latest beautifully sublime film, ‘Maestro.'”

The NBR is an organization that has recognized excellence in filmmaking for more than a 100 years. For the 2023 winners, a select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students viewed 245 films films, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters, per the official press statement.

In addition to the aforementioned categories, the NBR bestows awards for Best Original and Adapted Screenplay, Breakthrough Performance, and Best Directorial Debut, as well as its signature honors the Freedom of Expression Award and Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography. This year, the National Board of Review has established a new award category, Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry, to celebrate the accomplishments and work of stunt artists.

While the NBR focuses on crowd-pleasing favorites, its Best Film winners rarely go on to land the Best Picture Academy Award, with only one NBR Best Film going on to take home the top title at the Oscars in the past decade. Last year’s NBR Best Film pick was “Top Gun: Maverick.”

The annual NBR Awards Gala will be hosted by Willie Geist on January 11 at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City.

Check out the full list of the 2023 National Board of Review winners below.

Best Film: Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon 

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

NBR Icon Award: Bradley Cooper

Best Original Screenplay: David Hemingson, The Holdovers

Best Adapted Screenplay: Tony McNamara, Poor Things

Breakthrough Performance: Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One

Best Directorial Debut: Celine Song, Past Lives

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best International Film: Anatomy of a Fall

Best Documentary: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Ensemble: The Iron Claw

Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: Director Chad Stahelski and Stunt Coordinators Stephen Dunlevy & Scott Rogers, John Wick: Chapter 4

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie & Killers of the Flower Moon

Top Films (in alphabetical order):

Barbie

The Boy and the Heron

Ferrari

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):

La Chimera

Fallen Leaves

The Teachers’ Lounge

Tótem

The Zone of Interest

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):

20 Days in Mariupol

32 Sounds

The Eternal Memory

The Pigeon Tunnel

A Still Small Voice

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

All of Us Strangers

BlackBerry

Earth Mama

Flora and Son

The Persian Version

Scrapper

Showing Up

Theater Camp

A Thousand and One